McGill rises to Coast challenge

The Coast to Coast is a hard race at the best of times – even without the stormy weather that lashed this year's event. DAVID DAWKINS chatted with a Marlborough mum who took everything the course threw at her in her stride and came away smiling.

Three years ago, Yo McGill didn't own a road bike, had never run more than five kilometres and had a fear of rough water.

Now the vivacious 43-year-old mother of two is a Coast to Coast champion.

On Saturday, Yo surprised even herself when she won the individual veteran women 40-49 years section of the two-day race.

After learning that she was leading her section after the first day, Yo not only had the pressure of the race lead on her shoulders for day two, but a southerly front slashing across the course.

"I've trained in negative six degrees, so the rain and the cold didn't bother me. The wind was horrible, though – it made it feel like someone had opened a fire hydrant. I got blown off the road twice."

As quickly as the southerly blew in, it abated, and Yo finished the race in brilliant sunshine, paddling down Christchurch's Avon River.

While she understood the need to abandon the original kayak leg, she was disappointed to miss the opportunity to tackle the Waimakariri River.

"Normally, kayaking requires a lot of skills and knowledge, but on the Avon it was just brute strength through all the weed and dodging the punters and rowers. I even ran over a couple of ducks."

The Coast to Coast win was the result of 12 months of dedicated training – interrupted only by a six-week break for the cherry harvest at the Stonyfield orchard she and husband Dave own.

Never one to sit still for long, Yo was a netballer in her youth and is still a keen skier and tennis player.

A nurse in the emergency department at Wairau Hospital, her work colleagues got her involved in multisport.

She took part in rides to Picton on an old mountainbike before buying a road bike three years ago and completing the Forrest Estate GrapeRide as part of a team.

After watching a middle-aged woman complete the Coast to Coast in a TV documentary, Yo decided that it would be her next challenge.

"I thought, if she could do it, so can I. There was a bit of eye rolling from Dave at the time."

Yo completed half marathons and took part in numerous bunch cycle rides and the Spring Challenge all-women adventure race, though this year her team got lost and took 17 hours to complete the 12-hour course. She won the veteran women's title at the Queen Charlotte Classic in November, a major confidence boost ahead of the Coast to Coast.

Despite his initial scepticism, Dave is Yo's biggest supporter. He, along with nine-year-old son Jonty and friends Di Brunel and Deb and Grant Baxter, were in Yo's support crew for the race.

Yo said she couldn't have completed the Coast to Coast without their assistance or the support of eldest son Toby, 13, and her workmates at the hospital.

While she had a grin on her face throughout the race, she won't be back next year to defend her title.

Her aim is to complete the race as a 50-year-old, and she would also like to do it with her children once they are a bit older – if they still consider her cool enough by then.

In the meantime, she just wants some well-earned rest.

"Unfortunately, training and alcohol don't really mix. It'll be nice to start socialising again – have a party and drink a bit of booze."

Good on you, Yo – you deserve it.

- The Marlborough Express